Finding Family
by Eruanna17
Summary: Eve can do this. She's been fostering a 14-year old with cancer, how hard can attending a support meeting be? Then she meets Flynn and the two boys he's fostering, and her life gets a lot more interesting. First, Cassandra takes to Flynn, then Eve steps in to help Jake and Ezekiel get along, and the next thing she knows it's almost like they belong together. Like they're a family.
1. Meetings

_"You can do this."_ Eve thought sternly to herself. _"You've tracked down WMDs and terrorists, you can handle an hour of small talk at a foster parent support meeting."_

She walked into the room, automatically noting the folding chairs neatly lined up in rows, the wobbling card table holding up a coffee station, and the different groups of people gathered together with snippets of their conversation drifting towards her.

"... wouldn't believe the way he spoke to me the other day…"

"... and then they gave her second place! It's completely ridiculous, but what else can you expect from a…"

"...poor dear is doing the best she can, but everyone knows that fostering really isn't for single people. I keep trying to introduce her to my coworker's son, but…"

"Nope! Can't do this." Eve said aloud, then turned around to pick up Cassandra from the next room and march away as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, she whirled around with so much force that she smacked into the man coming in behind her and nearly knocked him to the ground.

"Oh my god, I am so sorry, are you okay?" She asked, trying to check for injuries as the man bent over, trying to regain his breath.

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine." He coughed. "Wasn't looking where I was going. Bad habit, but you know, every time I try to break it, I think about all the different methods used by cultures to enforce particular habits and why it's so important to our culture that we pay attention to our surroundings, which clearly descended from militaristic necessity, as well as being aware of wild animals that might have strayed into the village, so really you could generally attribute it to the survival instinct that while ubiquitous, is not necessarily universal- oo! Ubiquitous and universal. Haven't used those alliterative adjectives together in a long time, not since-"

"Mr. Carsen!" Charlene's disapproving voice called from the front of the room as Eve attempted to process half of what the strange man had said, all without pausing. "The meeting is starting, so if you would please stop talking Colonel Baird's ear off and sit down."

The man started slightly, then gave Eve a bashful smile. "Sorry. Another bad habit." He gestured to one of the folding chairs. "After you."

Sighing, Eve realized she had missed her window of opportunity to escape, and now was committed to the next hour of… whatever they did in support groups for those fostering 'difficult cases'.

Deciding she could at least be polite, she introduced herself as the man haphazardly flopped into the seat next to her. "Eve Baird."

"Flynn Carsen." He whispered back, then a pointed glare from Charlene silenced him as she opened the meeting with the importance of keeping receipts in order to be correctly reimbursed.

An older man sitting next to Charlene laid a gentle hand on her arm, then added, "This is to be a safe place for people to come together and share our collective knowledge with each other. Raising any child is a difficult, yet rewarding journey, and raising foster children compounds that difficulty, and that achievement. Here we share, we learn, and we help each other. In this way, we can all make a difference in the world, however small." He smiled softly at his audience, then nodded to Charlene.

As the older woman laid out the rules of order, Eve wondered aloud, "Who is that?"

"That's Judson." Flynn answered, and Eve noticed the admiration in his voice. Clearly they had a close relationship, most likely-

"Wait. Judson? As in the _Judson Foundation for Foster Children_ Judson?"

"Yup. I don't tend to come to these sorts of things, but when Judson asks, you really can't say-"

An angry cough came from the podium. "We will now open the floor for whoever would like to speak."

As different people spoke at the front, Eve felt Flynn studying her from the corner of her eye. Whenever she looked at him though, he snapped his head forward, trying to look like he was paying attention.

"Thank you to all our volunteers. Now, we will break into smaller-"

"NATO!" Flynn shouted and snapped his fingers, then realized everyone was staring. "Sorry." He apologized in a stage whisper.

Charlene rolled her eyes and finished, "We will now break into smaller groups to discuss your young charges and the challenges they bring. Begin."

"You're NATO!" He repeated, turning to Eve with a wide, child-like grin. "I knew you were military, but that is one of the more unique branches. Counter-terrorism unit?"

Eve's jaw dropped. "How the hell do you know that?"

"It's fairly easy actually. I mean, your stance is clearly military, besides the fact that Charlene called you Colonel, plus you keep scanning the room to assess any threats, paying careful attention to watches, bags, even the coffee maker, which indicates you're used to IEDs, and-"

"Mr. Carsen. Colonel Baird. I assume you're talking about your foster children, since that's what this time was intended for. Is young Mr. Jones experimenting with explosives now?" Charlene asked sardonically as Flynn ducked his head like an errant student caught by the teacher.

"No. I mean, not that I know of. Although an alarm clock did go missing, and a local Home Depot reported some missing fertilizer, now that I think of it, but I'm sure it's nothing to worry about." He beamed at Charlene as she shook her head and moved on.

Eve squinted slightly at Flynn. "Your kid isn't actually going to blow something up, is he?"

"What? Oh, no. Probably not. Ezekiel's more a trickster than a destroyer, although there are some very interesting Native American myths that cast tricksters as both creator and destroyer, truth-tellers and yet liars. It's a fascinating paradox, actually-"

"What makes him a 'special case'?" Eve interrupted, figuring that he would probably give her a whole lecture if she didn't stop him.

"He's a thief. Brilliant in his own way, especially at thirteen, but he mainly likes challenges that are behind locked doors. His last set of foster parents were ready to ship him off to juvie, but Judson intervened and asked me to take him in. I think Jake's progress may have given Judson a false impression of my expertise, but it's mainly because Jake can take care of himself."

"Is Jake your other foster kid?"

"Yeah. He's sixteen and he and Ezekiel have been… butting heads since Jones came to stay. Jake's moral compass is straight as an arrow, but Jones tends to live solely in the grey areas. What about you?"

"Oh, Cassandra's a great kid. She's fourteen, really smart, driven, competitive. Just all-around a good kid."

Flynn's brows narrowed in thought. "Then why are you here?"

"Huh?"

"You said yourself, this is the night for the 'special cases'. Why are you here?"

Eve hesitated. "She's… got some medical issues. It's been pretty tough for her, but it's nothing we can't handle. I wouldn't have even come to this, but Jenkins has been hinting at it for weeks, so-"

"You know Jenkins?" Flynn asked in delighted surprise.

"Yeah. He's our social worker."

"Mine too! He's a bit grumpy, isn't he?"

"I usually go with brusque, but yeah." She smiled at him until movement at the door caught her eye.

Her heart sank as the volunteer who watched the kids waved at her urgently. "Ms. Baird, it's-"

Eve was already out of her chair and down the hall before the woman could finish, vaguely aware that Flynn was right on her heels.

The small circle of kids parted as Eve barrelled into the room. "Cassandra!"

"It's okay, Eve." The redhead answered distractedly from the floor. "It'll stop in a minute. I was just helping some of the other kids with their homework and they were talking about rainbows and the refraction of light in the visible spectrum… electromagnetic spectrum of ultraviolet light… ultraviolet radiation. Radiation... radiation is the collision of matter and antimatter..."

"Cassandra," Eve said, trying to keep the strain of worry out of her voice as Flynn crouched down next to her. She half-heard a young man with a southern accent growl at the other kids to give them some room.

"Almost… Paul Dirac mathematically predicted the existence of positrons with a mass of 9.110(-31) kilograms... protons with a mass of 1.67262178 times -27 kilograms... neutrons with a mass of… oh. I smell peanuts this time." She blinked and smiled uncertainly. "That's not so bad."

Eve let out a long breath. "Okay. Can you move? We need to get you to-"

"I'm not going to the hospital, Eve." Cassandra told her, stubbornness suddenly lining the teen's face.

"And I am not having this argument again. What if it's getting worse?"

"It's not. This is part of my normal now, and you need to deal with that."

"Which is why we need a plan of attack."

"I am not a soldier!" Cassandra nearly shouted, causing the other adults to pretend they weren't listening and for most of the other kids to step back. Only a skinny asian boy and another teen with a dark brown fauxhawk stayed where they were, glancing between the redhead and Flynn, who was muttering to himself.

"You're a synesthete!" He declared in realization, and both Eve and Cassandra turned to stare at him in shock. "Auditory and sensory hallucinations linked to memory retrieval."

"Wow. Yes. Hi." Cassandra said, smiling shyly at Flynn, tension from her argument with Eve fading away.

"Hi! So, let me guess, you have a photographic memory." He turned and confided to Eve. "Like mine."

Eve saw the other teen roll his eyes while the asian boy had disappeared somewhere.

"Only your brain is cross-wired. All five senses are linked to memory. Unbelievable." He grinned at Cassandra in amazement. "How does it manifest itself?"

Eve tensed slightly. Cassandra normally didn't discuss her synesthesia, or its cause, with other people. She barely talked about it with Eve.

But clearly, Flynn wasn't normal. "Well, numbers are colors. Science is musical notes. When I do math, I smell things. Mostly breakfast."

"That's incredible. Flynn Carsen." He stuck out his hand.

"Cassandra Cillian. Nice to meet you."

Eve sighed and tried again. "Look, I still think-"

"I am not going to the hospital." Cassandra told her, smile disappearing.

"We need to see if you're okay."

Bitter anger crept into Cassandra's tone. "I will never be-"

The teen behind Eve suddenly spoke up. "Maybe the Doc can check her out."

They both turned to see him pointing at Flynn, who was now circling Cassandra and talking to himself.

"Doc." Flynn looked up in confusion as Eve stared thoughtfully at the authority in the young man's voice. "D'you think you could make sure she's alright?"

"Hm? What? I mean, yes, I suppose-"

"You're a doctor?" Eve asked dubiously.

"Of course I am."

She frowned at him. "Of what?"

"That is a fascinating story. I actually hold the record in PHDs. More of a student of learning than any kind of discipline or doctrine, but I like to think of myself as more of-"

"Flynn." Eve barked, and now she felt the boy watching her. "Can you help or not?"

Flynn blinked, then bent down to look at Cassandra. "Does anyone have a penlight?"

The young asian boy appeared suspiciously fast with a penlight Eve was sure used to hang on the keychain of one of the other parents.

"Ah. Thank you."

As he shined the light into Cassandra's eyes, Eve crossed her arms and resisted the urge to pace.

"It'll be alright." The teen told her. "He's a good guy, he just gets distracted easy."

"No kidding." Eve said, but uncrossed her arms and tried to relax. "I'm Eve Baird, by the way."

"She's a Colonel from NATO!" Flynn chirruped, then a glare from Eve sent him back to studying Cassandra.

"Jacob Stone."

"Oh! You're Jake. Flynn was telling me about you."

"Yeah? What'd he say?"

"He said you were a great kid and-" She spun around quickly and yanked the hoodie of the kid trying to lift her wallet. "And you must be Ezekiel Jones."

"Colonel Baird!" The boy said with an Australian accent and a charming smile. "Has anyone told you that you have a terrifyingly powerful grip?"

"The better to catch you with." She responded, then held her hand out for her wallet. Sighing, he reluctantly handed it over. After a significant cough, he pulled out two more wallets and a phone.

"Hey! Those are mine!" Jake grabbed his wallet and phone.

"I assume this other one is Flynn's?"

"I was going to put it back." Ezekiel protested as Jake snorted in disbelief. "It's more for practice than anything. Lifting from him is no fun."

"Stealing shouldn't be fun!" Jake snarled.

"Because Flynn doesn't notice?" Eve asked, ignoring Jake's grumbles.

"Yeah. He leaves the house without it half the time anyway."

"Like today, perhaps?" Eve raised an eyebrow at the young thief. "Then how did it end up in his pocket?"

Ezekiel froze for half a second before smiling and shrugging. "You could always ask him."

Letting go of his collar, she hummed thoughtfully, then nodded at the penlight. "Once he's done, make sure that goes back to its rightful owner."

"There you go. All set." Flynn stood and smiled at Eve, dropping the penlight absent-mindedly into his pocket. Ezekiel caught it halfway down and scurried off, with Flynn none the wiser.

"I told you I was fine." Cassandra said with a pointed look.

"Yes you did. Alright, we should be getting home. It was very…" Eve searched for an accurate word, "...interesting to meet you, Flynn. Thanks for looking at Cassandra."

Flynn beamed as though she had given him a resounding compliment. "It was lovely to meet you as well, Colonel Baird."

Eve and Cassandra waved as the group of boys behind them, then walked to the car in thought.

"So. Flynn seems nice." Cassandra broached gently, peeking at Eve from the corner of her eye.

"He seems weird." Eve said as she started the car. "But yeah. I guess nice, too. If you like distracted, overenthusiastic bookish types."

Cassandra gave her a look, then continued. "Jake and Ezekiel are nice too. Jake let all the little kids climb on him, and Ezekiel did coin tricks during the meeting. Do you think you'll go again next week?"

"Not sure yet. We'll see."

The girl glanced down at her hands. "I'm sorry for earlier."

Eve sighed. "I'm sorry too. Hospitals aren't fun for anyone, and especially not for you. I just worry about you, that's all."

"I know. You're just trying your best." Eve looked over to see Cassandra giving her a small, encouraging smile.

Ruffling her hair fondly, Eve said, "So are you, Red. That's all we can do, most days. Our best."


	2. Parts of a Whole

Eve decided to go to the meeting again a week later. She told herself it was solely because it was a chance to gather knowledge from other people who had fostered difficult cases, and not at all because that slightly insane man might be there again. Or because his broad smile and habit of speaking in nonsensical paragraphs had kept popping up in her mind throughout the week.

Which is why she pretended she wasn't disappointed when the meeting started with nary a man in a suit and sneakers in sight.

Charlene motioned for silence. "We will first open the meeting with a few points of business. I have noticed some of you have been neglecting the important task of filing the correct paperwork, and have instead decided to turn in willy-nilly forms with no thought to how this might affect-"

"Here! I'm here!" The doors slammed open with a bang as Flynn rushed in and dove for the seat next to Eve, who was surprised at the force of the smile trying to appear on her face.

Charlene gave him a piercing glare, then continued on with her lecture.

"What happened to you?" Eve asked, noticing the dust covering his jacket sleeves. And in his hair. And on his face.

"New batch of artifacts came in today." He explained enthusiastically as she resisted the urge to wipe the smudges off his forehead. "A couple of them haven't been moved in nearly a century, and were very shoddily packaged. More dust than a mob of mummies. Mumbling of mummies? Mob of mummies. Anyway, I was in the middle of archiving them when I had a sneeze attack and nearly broke a Ming vase with my head! It was right next to a Mayan calendar so I began tracking the dates with the movement of the sun and then I remembered that the world was predicted to end on December 21st, which was clearly wrong because they were emphasizing inverted twelves, which in Hebrew is the number symbolic of governmental perfection and then I remembered that the next meeting was the twelfth of this month, which is today. and that I was late."

Eve stared at him. "What the hell do you _do?"_

"Oh, well, I'm sort of a librarian slash archivist slash curator slash professor-"

"Okay, I'm just going to go with Librarian. What does your job entail? Besides nearly breaking dusty vases with your face?"

"I help order and maintain one of the world's largest private collections of rare books and artifacts. It's a thing of beauty." Flynn looked almost rapturous as he described it. "Rows upon rows of stories and symbols of a time gone by. It's almost like... " He turned to her, eyes shining. "Like magic."

As Charlene announced the next speaker, Eve tilted her head at the Librarian and tried to figure out why she found him so… fascinating.

She had met people who loved their jobs, but the pure, unadulterated adoration in Flynn's voice when he talked about his passion made him different from any she had ever met before. It made her remember late nights reading books with a flashlight under her covers, how no matter how many times her family moved to a new base there was always a library she could go to, and how fictional characters were far more constant than any of her friends.

It _was_ almost like magic.

"So, is that what's on your resume?" Eve teased after the meeting ended and they walked out together. "You work in a magic library?"

"No, although, that's a very succinct summary. Maybe I should put it on my card." He grinned.

There was a sudden, redheaded blur. "Who works in a magic library?" Cassandra demanded, eyes wide with hope.

"It's not magic." Ezekiel replied as he walked up. "It's just really big. There's a theater room though. That's the awesome part."

"All libraries are magic." Jake commented, slinging his bag over his shoulder. "The transcribed shared collective of stories and knowledge from hundreds of years is the closest thing-" He realized that Eve, Cassandra, and Ezekiel were staring at him, then muttered, "I mean, it's just a bunch of dusty books. Why would that be cool?"

"Speaking of cool," Ezekiel said, "Flynn promised to take us to the ice cream place down the way."

Jake scowled. "He only promised that if you didn't steal anything."

"No. Only if I didn't get in trouble for stealing. Big difference." Ezekiel explained with a shrug, then glanced meaningfully at the older man. "Flynn."

Flynn looked up, startled. "Hm? What?"

"You'd said you'd take us to ice cream."

"I did? Well then let's go!" He declared with a large smile. "Eve! Cassandra! You should come too!"

Seeing as how the three kids had already raced out of the building together, Eve had no choice but to agree.

"You should come visit the library sometime. When you're not busy with NATO, I mean." Flynn told her as they walked down the street.

"I actually don't work for NATO anymore. I run a private security firm." She gave Flynn a tight smile. "Can't really be a good foster mom if you're moving every few months."

Flynn frowned in thought. "So, did you know Cassandra before?"

"I served with her mother back in the day. She retired when Cassandra was born, but we kept in touch. I knew they didn't have much family, and after the car accident… well, someone needed to step up." Eve stared at the girl a few yards ahead of her, then added softly, "She deserved to have someone step up for her."

She looked up to see overwhelming gentleness in Flynn's eyes. "So you took her in."

Eve shrugged, embarrassed by the wealth of emotion in his voice and the weird flip-flop thing her stomach was suddenly doing. "It was the right thing to do."

The conversation was interrupted once they entered the ice cream shop by the chorus of voices asking for samples and recommending flavors to each other. After everyone sat down with their treats, Ezekiel starting complaining about his homework around bites of his cotton candy ice cream.

"Why do we have to read _To Kill a Mockingbird_ when we could just watch the movie instead? It'd be so much easier. Plus, the movie's not even in color. That's almost as torturous as reading!"

"Because it's one of the best-written novels that even uncultured Philistines like you can appreciate!" Jake growled over his rocky road.

Recognizing the tone of an argument about to start, Eve intervened. "So what grade are you in, Ezekiel?"

"Ninth. It's a relief to get away from all the babies in junior high. They all start crying if they even think something's gone missing."

"Is that 'cuz you made things go missing?"

"So you'd be in, what, eleventh grade, Jake?" Eve interrupted him firmly.

"Yeah. Here's not as bad as my other school. Least some of the kids care about learning."

"Wait, Cassie, you're fourteen, right? Why haven't I seen you in my classes?" Ezekiel asked curiously.

Cassandra finished a bite of her honey lavender ice cream. "I'm in tenth grade, actually. Skipped a couple of grades in elementary school. No big deal." She bragged with a smile.

Jake furrowed his brows. "Then why aren't you in my classes? If you skipped a couple of grades, you be a junior or even a senior, not a sophomore."

Panicking slightly, Cassandra fumbled, "Oh, well, I would have, but… I missed a lot of school a few years ago."

"Right, because of your tumor." Flynn nodded, then winced as his filter kicked in three seconds too late.

Everyone turned to stare at him, Eve with a rather impressive glare.

"Sorry, it's just...synesthetes rarely have all five senses involved. You've got full-on hallucinations and seizures, indicative of a frontal-lobe anomaly, oligodendroglioma." In a voice that was torn between propriety and curiosity, he hesitantly asked, "How... big is it?"

The boys looked back at Cassandra, and Eve bristled and prepared to go into full 'everyone mind your own damn business' mode until Cassandra answered quietly, "It's about the size of a grape. Which I really wish they hadn't told me, 'cause I used to really like grapes."

Ezekiel and Stone exchanged glances. "Are you…"

She looked up with a small, brittle smile that broke Eve's heart. "Not yet. Someday. Sooner than I'd like, but not yet. At least now I know you can have a job at a magic library, so that's cool."

Flynn leapt on the conversational lifeline. "Yes. Very cool. And you are welcome to come by any time."

"I'm actually working on an essay about how the shift from oral traditions to print affected the types of myths and legends, so that's actually be really helpful." Cassie told him, purposefully sounding lighthearted as the tension between Eve's shoulders increased.

"That sounds like a great report." Flynn's eyes brightened with interest. "I assume you're starting with the printing press? Gutenberg's press is the most famous, certainly, but actually the oldest press with moveable type was invented in Korea in 1377-"

"I'm going to go check on something," Eve said shortly, then marched outside. Flynn, after a moment of confusion, cautiously followed.

Jake and Ezekiel turned back to see Cassandra hunched over her melting ice cream.

"She ain't mad at you, y'know." Jake told her in a comforting voice.

"I know. She's just frustrated." Cassandra said to the table, then so quietly the boys barely heard, added, "...at me."

"She's frustrated 'cuz she can't fight something for you." Jake said. "Not 'cuz she thinks it's your fault."

"I'm sure she thinks it'd be easier if she hadn't taken in someone with a time-bomb in their head." She muttered, stabbing viciously at the remnant of her dessert.

"Hey," Jake peeked under Cassandra's curtain of hair. "Trust me. I'm pretty good at knowin' when people are mad, and what they're mad at. And believe me, Baird ain't mad at you."

Sniffling slightly, Cassandra asked, "How do you know?"

Jake opened his mouth to answer, then paused.

"His dad used to beat him." Ezekiel commented casually as he finished his waffle cone. "You learn to read people pretty quick with that kind of motivation."

Jake whirled around angrily. "How the hell do you know-"

Ezekiel raised a condescending eyebrow. "Please. I've been in the system since I was eight. I've lost track of how many homes I've been in, but I do know how to tell which homes you want to be in, and which ones you don't. Flynn clearly hasn't raised a hand to anyone in his life, and you aren't a frequent foster flier, like myself, ergo, your dad must be the reason you flinch whenever people get angry."

As Jake made incoherent, furious sounds, and looked very close to strangling Jones himself, Cassandra asked softly, "Is that true?"

Jake stopped, then huffed at the table. "Family ain't easy." He said finally.

"Sure it is." Ezekiel shrugged. "Family's the worst. That's why I don't want one. I'm only here until I can get enough money for my own place. Then I'm gone."

Before Ezekiel could antagonize Jake even further, Cassandra stared outside at the two adults.

"Eve's pacing. That's never good." She observed quietly. "I wish I knew what she was saying."

"Let's find out then." Ezekiel said with a wide grin, moving towards the door.

Cassandra looked at him with wide eyes. "What? No! Eavesdropping is…"

"Rude? Maybe. Informative? Definitely." He winked at her. "C'mon, Cassie. Live a little."

After a moment, Cassandra hopped off her stool and stood with Ezekiel by the door. Stone grumbled a bit before joining them a few seconds later.

Flynn was uncharacteristically quiet as Eve paced back and forth, his dark eyes following her intently.

Eve was gesturing in an agitated manner, starting half a dozen sentences and finishing none of them. "It's just… it's not… I can't… it's…"

Finally fed up, she threw her hands up and shouted, "It's not _fair!"_

The two boys felt Cassandra flinch at the force behind Eve's words.

"There's no good way to… it's not fair to anyone! And I can't…"

Jake watched Cassandra sniffle a little, and instinctively make herself smaller.

Flynn stepped forward and gently touched Eve's shoulder, still watching her face carefully. Eve took a deep breath, then said, "It's not fair to her. None of it."

Cassandra blinked in surprise.

"I mean, she's fourteen! She shouldn't have to be dealing with any of this. She should be going to summer camp and thinking about crushes, not facing a tumor in her head without her parents. She deserves more. She deserves so much better!" Eve sighed as the fight went out of her. "She deserves so much better than me." She added in a defeated voice.

Eve slouched against a wall. "Jenkins is right. I don't really have anyone I can talk to about all…" She waved her hand vaguely. "...this. Look, I'm good with plans. I'm great with plans. I can tell you six different ways to surround a primary target without alerting any sentries, but... I don't know the best way to raise a girl who's dying. And it's the not knowing part that kills me." She glanced up slightly. "Sorry. I don't mean to dump all this on you."

Flynn bit his lip, then said her name with a tender inflection that made Jake's eyebrow rise thoughtfully. "Eve. I know… I know it's hard. And you're right, no one should have to go through that. But you're also wrong."

He waited until she met his eyes. "Cassandra deserves someone who loves her. And that's clearly you. But, more than that, it's… it's like when I'm trying to translate ancient Sumerian texts, not only do you have to translate word by word, but you also have to consider the education of the author, as well as the colloquialisms of the vernacular at that point in history-"

"Flynn…" Eve said with a slight note of fond exasperation that was quickly becoming familiar.

He coughed, then tried, "Aristotle's Metaphysics says that 'the whole is greater than the sum of its parts'. And, yes, part of Cassandra is that she has cancer, and is a synesthete, and that she lost her parents. But that's not all of her. When you translate something, you can't just focus on one sentence, or one part. There's a larger context that changes how you see the individual words, how the different parts come together to make something... more." Eve stared as if seeing him for the first time. "From what I've seen, Cassandra is much, much more than the mere collection of her individual parts."

With a stifled sob, Cassandra broke away from the door and ran full on into a startled Flynn's arms, hugging him tightly.

"Oh. I… uh…" Flynn flailed a moment, then patted Cassandra's back as if afraid he was doing it wrong before giving her a quick squeeze in return with an embarrassed smile.

"Thank you," She sniffed into his vest, then saw Eve's look of worry and confusion. Cassandra let go of Flynn and flew into Eve's embrace.

"Hey, hey, it's alright." She told her, hugging tightly. "What's going on?"

Flynn looked over and saw the boys standing by the door and frowned at them questioningly. Ezekiel immediately pointed to Jake, who didn't notice at first, then sputtered in protest while Ezekiel smiled infuriatingly.

Cassandra blinked back tears and mumbled into Eve's chest. "I thought you didn't want me. That I was too broken."

"Oh." Eve's voice was soft and heartbroken. "Oh, Red, of course I want you. I just wish I was better at this."

"But you're the best." Cassandra hiccupped.

"Clearly I could be better." Eve attempted a grin as she wiped Cassandra's eyes. "I'll work on that. We okay?"

Cassandra nodded and gave her a half-smile.

"Okay." Eve looked up to see the boys all staring at her. "Well, I could use some hot chocolate right about now." She announced, and was rewarded with Cassandra's full smile. "C'mon. You boys can come too."

Cassandra stayed close to Eve as they walked to the coffee shop, and even when she and Flynn got into an unintelligible discussion about the history of heliocentric versus geocentric theories, with Jake adding several insights (although Eve was interested to notice him biting his tongue multiple times).

By the time they had finished their discussion and drinks and were walking back, Cassandra seemed to be back in full spirits. She was pestering both Jake and Ezekiel to tell her about what they were learning in their science classes, skipping happily down the sidewalk.

"Hey," Eve slowed her pace a bit and glanced at Flynn. "Thanks." She looked ahead. "I've never seen Cassandra take to anyone that fast. And, what you said about being more than our parts... I hadn't really thought of it like that, and I think she really appreciated it. Plus, it's nice that she can talk to someone about all that science-y stuff."

"Well, I do have several degrees in science-y stuff, so I'm glad I could help." He grinned widely at her.

"And for… you know. Listening." She added, tilting her head at him with a soft smile.

Flynn stared, then immediately started talking, and… was he _blushing?_ "Oh well, you're welcome. For the listening. I'm pretty good at it, you know, since I've got good listening… ears. And you're welcome to them any time. I mean, I'm usually the one doing the talking, not the listening. You may have a hard time believe this, but I talk to myself a lot, so it's a nice change to be doing the… not… talking. For once." He finished, staring at her with an oddly vulnerable look.

Eve was thinking about how warm his caramel eyes were when she heard Ezekiel shout, "Oi! We just going to stand here all night?"

Certain she heard Cassandra shush him, Eve rolled her eyes and turned to the kids ahead of them.

"Alright. We'll let you go home. Goodnight Stone, night Jones."

Ezekiel nodded at her, then spun around on the balls of his feet, only to be stopped by Eve's grip on his hoodie.

"Ahem."

Grinning sheepishly, he handed her back her wallet and Flynn's phone. She waved Ezekiel away as she dropped Flynn's phone into his jacket pocket while he gaped openly at her.

"That's the first time anyone's caught him." He told her in hushed, awed tones.

Eve shrugged. "Really? This is my second time. You might want to keep a better eye on him."

"I'll go start the car." Cassandra told her, fishing the keys out of her purse.

As Eve started after her, Flynn called her name. "Eve, wait."

"What I said about Cassandra… about the whole being greater than the sum of the parts. I meant it. But I also…"

Fiddling with his hands a bit, he sounded almost like he was confessing as he added, "I also think... well, I mean, I _know_... that it's true… about... you."

It was the combination of his halting words, and his shy expression that caused her to lean forward and press a kiss to his cheek.

"Thank you." Eve told him as he blinked at her in shock, then raised her eyebrow. "I think." She gave him a small grin. "Goodnight Librarian."

"I… uh… yes. Night. Good. I mean…"

Unable to suppress the smug satisfaction that came from leaving Flynn even slightly speechless, Eve allowed herself a smile as she walked to the car.

"Until next time, then." He called out several minutes later, and Eve was pleased to note he was grinning like an idiot.

"Until then." She answered back, and resisted the urge to finish her thought out loud.

 _Looking forward to it._


	3. Friends

The next time she saw Flynn turned out to be the following weekend, since Cassandra had gotten permission to interview him for her report. She was practically bouncing in the passenger seat the whole drive over.

"Cassandra, you've seen libraries before." Eve told her in an amused tone.

"Yes, but this is so much more than a normal library! It's one of the oldest buildings in town, second, it has some of the rarest books in the world, not to mention all the artifacts on display! And third, we know people who live there! How cool is that!?"

Eve smiled fondly at her. "Very cool."

They pulled up in front of a building emblazoned with a tree, a book, and a sword, with two golden lions lying in front of the doors.

"Eee! This is already amazing!" Cassandra squeaked, unbuckling and rushing outside.

By the time Eve caught up with her, Cassandra had pushed open the doors, run through the foyer, and was currently staring at the rows and rows of books and displayed artifacts in delighted awe. While not quite as enthusiastic as Cassandra, who was now clapping her hands to her face with a gleeful laugh, Eve was also incredibly impressed. There were hundreds of rows of shelves, plus the display cases with carefully crafted labels describing the treasures within. It was unlike anything Eve had ever seen.

Flynn appeared from behind one of the rows. "Hello! Come on in! Questions? Ask them!"

Cassandra let out a happy squee and bolted down the stairs. "Who owns all of these? How old are they? Where did you get them? Do you let people borrow them? How many books do you have?"

"One question at a time, Cassandra." Eve called out as she walked down the stairs.

"The Judson Family Estate." Flynn answered without skipping a beat. "If you mean the estate, couple hundred years, if you mean Judson, that's a bit rude, plus I'm not sure, but if you mean the books, various ages, but the oldest one consists of six bound sheets of 24-carat gold written in a lost Etruscan language from around 600 BC. All over the world. Sometimes. And the exact number is hard to pin down, depending on your definition of 'book', but several hundred thousand."

"Wow." Cassandra tried to look everywhere at once as they wandered through half a dozen rows of shelves, Flynn describing each section like it was an old friend.

Eve raised her hand. "I have a question. Do you _live_ here?"

"Yes. Well, no. Sort of." Flynn spun around as he gave each answer. "There's living spaces connected to the Annex, which is, in turn, connected to the Library. Here, I'll show you!"

He led the way down a shelf-lined corridor, turning a corner before gesturing to a large, open room with stairs that led to an upper level, a large wooden table, a few desks, several cabinets, and (of course) more shelves. Jake was reading at one of the desks to the side and Ezekiel was tinkering with a small motherboard. "This is the Annex, and the rest of the house is through there."

"Have you shown them the theater room yet?" Ezekiel asked, perking up. "That's the best part."

"How can you say that when we have some of the rarest books in the world here?" Jake growled from across the room, then nodded at the girls in greeting.

Cassandra whirled around to face Flynn. "You do? Where?"

"Well, in the rare book section, of course!"

Eve felt her phone vibrate, then checked the ID and answered. "Hey, Sean. A little, why? Really? Alright, I'll be there in a few. One sec." She flagged down Flynn and Cassandra before they rushed back to the Library.

"Hey Red, I've got to run into work for a bit. You okay here?"

Cassandra nodded quickly. "Absolutely! We haven't even gotten to the mathematics section yet, and it's already the best place ever!"

Flynn beamed at the compliment.

"Flynn, is it okay if she stays? I'll be back in a few hours."

"Of course! It's always a pleasure to have someone who appreciates our collection!"

"Great. Thanks. Dinner's on me. What kind of food do you like?"

Flynn shrugged. "Food-type food?" He hazarded.

Eve shook her head with a smile as Jones shouted, "Thai food!"

"The place on Park and Fourth has the best green curry," Jake suggested.

Laughing as she waved goodbye, Eve headed out to her car, noting with some surprise that the usual knot of unease in her stomach from leaving Cassandra alone was curiously absent.

* * *

"I'm back!" Eve called out, making her way through the shelves with arms full of bags, regretting not finding out where the back entrance was located.

"Brilliant!" Jones shouted from the Annex. "We're in here!"

Eve rolled her eyes. "Sure, don't offer to help or anything."

She met Ezekiel and Cassandra in the Annex and followed them into the attached kitchen, then stopped. The sink was piled high with old dishes, and the table was covered in precarious towers of books and papers, as well as the two mismatched chairs near it.

"Oo! Eggrolls." Jake appeared and reached into the bag.

"Ah!" Eve smacked his hand. "No one is eating anything until this place is cleaned up. Cassandra, you and Jake start in the kitchen. Jones, try and find some more chairs, then put stuff away."

"I'll wash." Cassandra volunteered.

Jake heaved a large sigh and rolled up his sleeves. "I'll dry."

Flynn wandered in a few minutes later, then looked up in bewilderment to see the kitchen a whirlwind of activity. He blinked, then tried to beat a hasty retreat.

"Nope!" Eve snagged the back of his collar. "You're helping. Get the books off the table and back to wherever they belong."

"What- I- but-"

"No buts, no cuts, no coconuts!" Cassandra chorused with Eve as she pushed Flynn towards the table.

"This sucks!" Jones complained as he put dishes away.

"The sooner you clean, the sooner you eat." Eve told him as she gathered papers together.

Jones pouted and whined, "The food's getting cold!"

"You better clean faster, then." Eve replied unsympathetically.

After a flurry of cleaning, they had unearthed the table and produced enough chairs and clean dishes to satisfy Eve. Once everyone had piled Thai food on their plates, they all sat down, Flynn and the boys eyeing each other strangely.

"...Now can we eat?" Ezekiel asked.

Cassandra looked over. "Eve usually likes to say grace first."

Jake shrugged and bowed his head, and after a moment, Flynn and Jones copied him. Eve hid a grin as she folded her hands.

"Lord, we pray that you bless this food, and the hands that prepared it. We thank you for this day-"

"And for books! And libraries!" Cassandra added.

"And for books and libraries…" She agreed, then peeked along the table and smiled gently. "And for friends. May our conversations be edifying, and our sleep be restful. Amen."

There was a mumbling of 'amen's from the others, then Jake quickly speared an eggroll and stuffed it in his mouth.

"What does 'edifying' mean?" Ezekiel asked, puzzled.

"To build up." Flynn explained with a small grin at Eve. "Also, to provide instruction. Good word."

Eve preened a little. "Why thank you. So, Cassandra," She turned down the table. "Did you get everything you needed for your report?"

"Oh, absolutely. This is the best Library ever!"

"And you haven't even seen the theater yet." Ezekiel told her, stealing one of Jake's wontons. "It's got a decent movie collection, too. Both the original and the remake of the Italian Job."

"I prefer anything with Michael Caine in it." Cassandra said as Ezekiel slipped an eggroll off Jake's plate. "It's such a shame he was never cast as Sherlock Holmes."

"You're kidding. Robert Downey Jr. is a great Sherlock!" Ezekiel argued.

Eve, suddenly remembering all the not-so-gentle comments about her bossiness made by family and friends alike, turned to Flynn. "Hey, hope I wasn't too pushy earlier. I didn't mean to take over."

Flynn waved her worry aside. "No problem. You bought the food, the least we can do is provide a place to eat it. The kitchen hasn't been this clean in ages, and I haven't had a sit down meal at home with other people in…" Eve gave him a curious look as he trailed off, then seemed slightly disquieted. "... well, for a long while. But, I mean, who has time to sit down when you've got a job that takes you everywhere?"

"I get that." Eve nodded. "When I was in NATO, there was no time for entertaining people. You got home long enough to rest-"

"If that." Flynn added.

"Yeah, if that, and then you were off to the next job."

"There was no time for family or friends, just focus."

"Exactly!" She agreed, then looked over at the three teens, who were all happily talking over each other. After watching them a moment, she added softly, "But things change."

Flynn followed her gaze. "Yeah."

"What do you mean you've never seen Inception?" Ezekiel shouted in disbelief. "It's one of the best movies ever!"

Cassandra flushed with embarrassment as Jake elbowed Ezekiel in the side. "Shut up, man."

"It's okay," She told them. "I didn't really get to watch movies when I was younger. My parents didn't approve of anything that didn't improve the development of my intellectual rigor. Or anything that didn't look good on a college application. So, no movies for me." She looked up sadly. "Not even Disney. Not until..."

The boys glanced at each other as Eve bit her lip. She had picked up bits and pieces about the Cillians' parenting style, from the few Christmas cards she had gotten which only mentioned Cassandra's latest academic achievement, to the fact that Cassandra treated anything lower than an A as an abomination. The few times she had ever mentioned how her parents dealt with her cancer, it was accompanied by a flush of shame that told Eve all she needed to know.

Jones cleared his throat. "Well, today is your lucky day, then, because watching it in the theater room is the only way to experience it. Prepare for your mind to be blown."

"If it's okay with Eve," Cassandra said, and all of them turn to stare at Eve like a litter of sad puppies.

"Alright, alright. But only because it's the weekend." She laughed, motioning them away. "We'll clean up."

Flynn sighed dramatically at his fate, but the twinkle in his eyes belied his protest. "Aye, aye, Colonel."

Eve rolled her eyes in amusement, then started gathering plates. "So, how long have you been here?"

"Well, if you mean as a Librarian, about ten years. But even before that, I practically lived here." Flynn told her as he turned on the water and started rinsing.

Eve grabbed a dishtowel. "Oh?"

Flynn scrubbed a plate, then handed it over. "Indeed. I mean, my father died when I was just a kid, and my mom worked, so I ended up with a lot of free time, and nothing to do."

She eyed him for a moment. "No friends?"

Two dishes went by before he answered. "I was never really good with... other people. I was always different, and y'know… kids especially, can be…"

"...Cruel." Eve finished, with a sudden vision of a tiny, bookish Flynn correcting kids twice his size.

"Yeah. Anyway," He turned around and leaned against the counter, crossing his arms. "I had read everything in my local library by the time I was eleven, and I was trying to track down a rare unedited version of a book by S. Morgenstern, and this was the only place in a thousand miles that had it. I came here, met Judson, and…"

Eve smiled softly. "Never left?"

He chuckled a little. "Something like that. Judson was one of the few people who could challenge my mind. He helped me learn, supported my studies. He trained me. He was there for me when my mother…"

She laid a comforting hand on his shoulder. He gave her a faint smile, then cleared his throat. "Ever since, it's been home."

"My family moved every year from base to base, so no place ever really felt like home." Eve commented, mimicking his stance against the counter. "Soon as we got settled, it was time to leave again. Must have been nice, to have a place that you knew every part of, loved everything about."

"Oh, I don't love everything." He told her, mock serious.

She quirked an eyebrow at him. "Really? Name one thing you don't like about this place."

"Easy. Tours." Flynn said, nodding emphatically. "Tours come with tourists, who always come with ridiculous questions. Usually repeated at least twice!"

Eve laughed, then saw Flynn look almost enchanted by the sound.

"Alright Librarian, I've got a tour-related question that I bet no one has asked."

Flynn scoffed loudly. "Ha! You can try, but I will quash without quarter any qualified questions that have been queried, and no quibbling!" Blinking, he shook his head as if to clear it, then asked, "Did I just use six q's?"

Eve nodded, biting back a grin.

"Sorry. That occurs occasionally. Ask away." He said, then looked slightly concerned at himself.

She tilted her head, then asked, "What's your favorite part of the Library?"

For a moment, Flynn just stared at her with an expression of considerable surprise that slowly turned into something much softer. "Really?" He asked hopefully.

"Really. It's clear you love all of it, but I'd be very interested to see your favorite part. And I assume that counts as a question no one has asked?" Eve smiled.

"It definitely does." He gave her one of his broad grins in return. "Let's go!"

His hand started toward hers, then hesitated and changed to a beckoning wave.

She followed him down the main corridor, trying to track their progress through the maze of bookshelves and display cases, half-listening as Flynn explained the history of the particular style of the wooden bookcases and the overall architectural design when he stopped, then swept out his hand to indicated they had arrived.

It was… not at all what Eve expected. Granted, she had expected a first folio of Midsummer Night's Dream, or a stick that was two thousand years old, or something like that, but this was completely different. There was a fireplace with a neatly-piled stack of wood next to it, a couch and an armchair facing the stone chimney, a small table with a lamp providing even more light, surrounded on all sides by bookshelves. It was completely hidden away, and felt almost… protected. Like a secret.

"I call it the Hearth." Flynn said, oddly quiet. "I use the Annex for research and projects, but sometimes when I just want to read… or be by myself a bit… I come here."

Instinctively feeling the weight of the moment, and understanding the importance of this gesture, Eve walked around the area slowly, taking in the well-used cushions, the corners of the side table worn smooth with age, the solidity of the stone fireplace, crackling merrily with a slight smell of wood smoke.

Eve turned to see Flynn watching her almost nervously, bouncing a little on the balls of his feet. Letting her smile grow, she walked next to him and said, "It's perfect."

He beamed at her in a mixture of relief and gladness. "Isn't it? I mean, there's something so primal about stories around fires, stemming from the earliest development of man, gathering around fires to pass on oral traditions, the mythologies that knit us together as a culture. For centuries, the place where fire was kept, the hearth, was the integral, vital, and central part of a home, which is why, 'hearth and home' is such a common pair. Actually, in Greek mythology, the goddess Hestia-"

Eve forestalled the rest of the impending lecture by grabbing the lapels of his suit and kissing him.

While she was waiting for either the telltale lack of chemistry or the electrifying spark that signalled if she should pursue anything with the recipient of the kiss, she did not at all expect the warm, comforting feeling that wrapped around her like a soft blanket, causing her heart to sigh in contentment and say, _Oh. There you are. Hello._

"Where are they?" Ezekiel's voice drifted through the bookshelves.

"Eve?" Cassandra called out.

Jake sounded like he was coming closer. "Doc? You out there?"

She released Flynn, smiling slightly at the fact that his eyes were still closed and he hadn't said a word in at least thirty seconds. She could almost hear his brain rebooting.

"We're coming!" Eve shouted back to the kids, then turned to Flynn with eyebrow raised in amusement.

"...Coming. Yes. We're… I'll talk... um... I'm just... I'll call you. No, I'll text you. Well, you text me, and we'll text each other. It'll be... one of those... things..."

Shaking her head, Eve tugged him into the main corridor where the three teens were waiting.

"Ready to go, Cassie? Got your stuff all packed up?"

Cassandra nodded, then waved at Flynn. "Thanks so much for letting me interview you, and for showing me around. This place is amazing."

Flynn managed a nod and waved in return.

"Night boys." Eve's blue eyes flicked up with a grin. "See you later, Flynn."

As the girls walked toward the door, Eve looked back to see Flynn move his mouth in an attempt at words, while Jake narrowed his eyes in suspicion and Ezekiel snapped his fingers in front of Flynn's face.

While driving home, Eve asked, "So, did you like the movie?"

"I did! It was amazing, the different layers of dreams, and the way time slowed exponentially in each one, and it was so cool how they used the same piece of music at different speeds throughout the film!"

Eve laughed. "Well, I'm glad you had a good time."

"I really did!" Cassandra smiled widely, then glanced down at her hands. "It's nice to have friends who know about the whole… you know. And it's not that they don't care, it's more like they're not just…"

"Feeling sorry for you?" Eve offered after a few moments.

"Yeah." The girl gave her a small smile, then continued in an excited voice, "Oh! And Ezekiel showed me all of the other movies they have, and, while there is no discernible pattern or order to the collection, there are at least 17 movies that Jake thinks I'll like."

"I guess that means we'll have to go back." Eve teased with an exaggerated sigh, and was rewarded by a look of pure happiness on Cassandra's face.

As she thought back on the evening, Eve had to fight off a matching look on her own face.


	4. Things That Make Life Worth Living

_Dear Foundation Member,_

 _We are incredibly sorrowful to inform you of the passing of Yahuda Robert Judson, the creator of the Judson Foundation for Foster Children. He was a father to the fatherless, and will always be remembered for his heart, his kindness, and his love of knowledge. For details about the service, please contact…_

Eve stared at the message for several long moments, then jumped as Cassandra came around the corner.

"Eve! We're going to be late for school! I've already got my homework and lunch... Eve?"

She angled the screen toward Cassandra, who read it with furrowed brows.

"Oh. That's so sad. He seemed like a really nice man."

"Yes, he was." Eve sighed, then shook her head. "Alright, let's go."

As they pulled up to the curb, Eve stopped Cassandra a moment. "If you see Jake or Ezekiel, ask them how Flynn's doing, okay?"

Cassandra nodded. "I'll find out. Bye, Eve."

"Learn something new, Red." Eve answered back, then watched her disappear into the crowd of kids.

At the end of the day, Cassandra revealed that neither of the boys had come to school, and no one was sure why.

Flynn was conspicuously absent at the next foster parent meeting as well, which Eve thought may have been because of Charlene's announcement.

The older woman stood at the podium for a moment, shoulders heavy with the weight of grief. "I'm sure most of you have heard of Judson's passing. In light of that, and after many years of service, I'd like to announce my retirement. There are several qualified candidates currently being considered to fulfill the available positions…"

The meeting was cut short after a few questions were answered, and Eve left after looking around for Flynn one last time. She decided to save what questions she had for Jenkins when he stopped by the next day for his monthly check-in with her and Cassandra.

The girls had figured out how to handle Jenkins fairly early on into their relationship. Cassandra was a model case anyway, but once they discovered his love of tea, there was always a fresh pot of jasmine tea with an offering of lavender honey and warm biscuits waiting for him when he stopped by. The only heated moment they had ever had was Jenkins' first visit, when he had been expounding on what were considered intolerable actions for foster children and the consequences thereof, clearly trying to scare Cassandra into good behavior.

Eve, who could tell that the poor girl was still grieving and was now thoroughly frightened, ignored the small voice that warned this might not be the best first impression, got in Jenkins' face and told him that this was Cassandra's home now, she was Cassandra's guardian, and they wouldn't give him any trouble if he didn't give them a reason to make any.

"So either make yourself useful or make yourself gone." She had practically threatened, and while Jenkins was clearly making a not-so-positive mental note, the small smile on Cassandra's face and the strength of her hug convinced Eve it was the right call. True to their word, they never made any trouble for Jenkins, and they had gotten along swimmingly ever since.

"Mr. Jenkins! Please come in!" Eve heard Cassandra open the door from the next room. "Tea?"

"Why hello, Miss Cillian. And yes, some tea would be lovely, thank you."

Their visit went as usual, with Eve discussing her work schedule, and Cassandra shyly showing off her school papers and projects, all with A's emblazoned on the front, while Jenkins clearly trying to hide how proud he was. As Cassie went to put away her schoolwork and Jenkins started to leave, Eve took a moment to snag the older man by the arm.

"Jenkins, you haven't heard anything from Flynn, have you?"

He stared at her for a moment, then shook his head. "I haven't. And I'll tell you something that I'd like you to keep in your confidence."

Eve blinked and nodded.

"I stopped by the Library yesterday, but Mr. Carsen… was not present for our scheduled meeting. His young charges told me some falsehood about him being ill, but I suspect it was because he was nowhere to be seen."

Biting her lip, Eve grew increasingly worried. Missing scheduled meetings with the assigned social worker as a foster parent was not a small infraction. She looked up to see Jenkins watching her reaction carefully, eyes inscrutable.

After a moment of decision, he sighed, and said, "Colonel Baird, Mr. Carsen is not a man of many friends. Nor even a fair amount of acquaintances. From what I've heard, you've connected with him in a way that no one else really has. And not just for his sake, but to ensure the well-being of the young men in his charge, someone needs to find him and pull him together."

It took a few seconds of him eyeing her significantly to realize the full extent of his meaning. "Wait a minute, you want me to… I can't! I barely know… and I'm… too new at all of this. Isn't there someone, anyone else that could-"

"Why yes. There were." He interrupted her. "One is sadly no longer with us, and the other has retired and is dealing with her own grief."

As Eve opened and closed her mouth a few times, trying to form some sort of coherent protest, Jenkins gentled his tone and added, "Look, Colonel Baird, if he fell into a river, you would reach in and pull him out, yes? Before he could drown."

Eve met his gaze, then looked away, part of her knowing full well he was using the same loyalty she had for the soldiers in her unit (plus whatever he had guessed about her current relationship with Flynn), and another part was almost hoping to be convinced.

"Judson was everything to Flynn, as was Charlene, who, quite frankly, I always liked better. To lose them both?" He shook his head in sympathy, then looked her straight in the eyes. "Right now, he is drowning. _Right now_ \- go save him."

She stood there a moment, uncertain. Then she turned to see Cassandra quietly holding out her keys. With a small smile at Cassandra, and a firm nod to Jenkins, Eve marched towards the car with a firm purpose, Cassie walking quickly to catch up.

They drove up to the back entrance to the Annex and Eve knocked forcefully on the door. After a few knocks with no answer, she leaned forward to hear argumentative whispering on the other side.

"It's Eve Baird." She announced, and the whispering stopped.

"And Cassandra!" The redhead added.

The door swung open to reveal both Jake and Ezekiel looking at them with a mix of relief and apprehension.

"Colonel!" Ezekiel beamed. "How lovely to see you."

Eve walked in and glanced around before asking, "Where's Flynn?"

The young Asian boy tried to block her way. "Oh you know, out and about. Working on one of his pro-"

"Don't lie to me." Eve told them both in an authoritative tone.

Both boys shifted uneasily, then Jacob answered, "In the Library."

Eve raised a questioning eyebrow. "And how long has he been in the Library?"

After some more fidgeting, Jacob spoke in a soft voice, "Four days."

Eve's jaw dropped. "Four days!?" She looked around the kitchen. "Have you been eating?"

"Of course!" Ezekiel scoffed. "There's plenty of food. We even drove to the store the other day."

Eve narrowed her eyes. "You drove?"

Jake looked mildly offended. "I grew up on a ranch. I've been driving since I was thirteen."

Eve crossed her arms. "In whose car?"

Jake froze, but Ezekiel rolled his eyes and answered. "Please, like there's any car security system that I can't- ow!" He rubbed the side where Jake had elbowed him, but stopped talking.

Sighing heavily, Eve handed Cassandra her credit card. "Order take-out, but make sure there's something healthy in there. You kids try and clean up a bit. I'm going to find Flynn."

As she headed towards the hall that connected to the Library, she heard Ezekiel call out, "Baird?"

Looking back, she saw that both boys were much more concerned than they let on.

"Good luck." Jacob said with a nod.

Nodding back, Eve started down the hallway that led to the Library.

"Flynn? Flynn?" She called as she walked down the rows and rows of books. Her feet instinctively led her in the direction of the hearth he had shown her, and sure enough, Eve spotted a tuft of unruly hair sticking up behind an end table.

"Flynn!" She marched forward, then slowed as she noticed him slumped against a bookshelf, eyes red, flipping through pages without reading them, books scattered in a rough semicircle as if to form a wall between the Librarian and the rest of the world.

Gentling her approach, Eve tested the waters by picking up one of the volumes on the floor and sliding down the bookcase next to Flynn. " _Higher Dimensional Quantum Translocation Theory_." She read aloud as she settled herself on the ground. "By Albert Einstein."

Flynn waved a hand in her direction to recommend it. "Original edition." He took a shaking breath, then continued, "Judson asked me to help one of the local museums set up an exhibit about Einstein, with the focus on the first scientific paper he wrote at 16 about ' _The Investigation of the State of Aether in Magnetic Fields_ ', plus his contributions to quantum mechanics. I started it ages ago, but other things came up and I just never…"

She watched him out of the corner of her eye as he blinked rapidly and thumbed through the pages of a different book.

"Anyway, that's… that's what I should be doing. I promised, but I didn't, so now I should…" He sniffed and scratched his ear with nervous energy. "It's the right thing to do."

"If that were the right thing to do, Flynn Carsen, you'd be doing it. Not reading about it."

Flynn shifted uneasily and flipped through some more pages as Eve looked gently at him. "No. This is your way of hiding."

Coming to a sudden realization, she tilted her head and told him, "I bet that's what you were like before all this. You hid in books. That's the life from which Judson pulled you. That's what you were. Judson and Charlene... They made you what you are."

Shrugging in defeat, Flynn mumbled, "Well, Judson's gone now."

Straightening in opposition to his tone, Eve asked, "And if he were here, what would he want you to do?"

Flynn blinked, then slowly looked up at her. Opening his mouth as if to say something, he then shook his head and started flipping through his book again.

Letting out a slow breath, Even tried again. "Flynn, there are two young boys out there who are, feeling worried, scared, and honestly, pretty abandoned right now while you hide out here."

Reaching for another book, Flynn avoided her gaze and said, "Jacob and Ezekiel can take care of themselves."

"Yeah, because they've been abandoned before." When Flynn still didn't look at her, Eve sighed. "And I know you're hurting, but pushing everyone away isn't the answer. It's not going to help you and it's definitely going to hurt them. So tell me, Librarian, if Charlene was here, if _Judson_ was here, what would they want you to do?"

Pausing for a moment, Flynn raised his head. "He'd want me to continue his work."

"To take care of them the way he took care of you." Eve agreed with a small smile.

Flynn finally met her gaze with something akin to wonder in his eyes. "You… are…" He hesitated, fumbling for a word, then shouted with sudden energy, "Key!"

As he jumped up and sped off in the direction of the Annex, Eve laughed to herself. "I'm... key. Okay. Cool."

Following him through the library, Eve's smile kept growing as Flynn shouted nonstop explanations. "You see, while Benjamin Franklin's key on the kite was never struck by lightning, because that would have killed him instantly, the key of the key experiment - ha! See what I did there? - was tying a string between the key and a Leyden jar and flying it in a storm to see that the static electricity was charging the Leyden jar. What's a Leyden jar you ask? It's the original capacitor! Stores electric charge. And what was Einstein teaching when he was recommended for a newly created professorship in theoretical physics in 1909? Electrodynamics! The study of the interactions between electric charges and currents using an extension of the classical Newtonian-"

There was sudden silence as Flynn turned the corner into the Annex and was greeted by the surprised stares of Jake, Ezekiel, Cassandra.

After a few seconds, Cassandra commented with a small hopeful smile, "It looks like you're feeling better."

"He must be, he's not making any sense." Eve added, leaning against the counter by Cassandra.

"I'm making perfect sense!" Flynn protested reflexively. "The connection between Einstein and Franklin and their discoveries about electric-" He stopped, then sniffed the air. "Do I smell Greek food?"

Jake pointed to the bags on the table. "We ordered delivery from Melita's."

Flynn pointed at Ezekiel. "But you hate Greek food."

"I don't hate it. I just think it's not as good as pizza." Ezekiel responded, crossing his arms defensively. "But you like it more than pizza, which is really weird, so…"

Eve bit her lip to hide her soft grin, then organized the effort to unearth the table and find some plates so they could eat.

Once they were ready, Eve said grace. "Lord, we pray that you bless this food and the hands that have prepared it. We especially thank you for Judson, for all the work he did and all the lives he touched. We pray that you would be with those who are grieving and hurting from his loss." Everyone politely pretended not to hear the sniff from the area near Flynn's seat. "And that we would live our lives in a way that honors his. Amen."

There were mumbled 'amens' and a few napkins were subtly pushed towards the end of the table.

"So…" Jake ventured cautiously. "What were you saying about Benjamin Franklin and Einstein?"

"Oh, well, one of the local museums asked me to set up an exhibit about Albert Einstein and they already have a display about Ben Franklin's key and kite experiment, so I realized that we could use the study of electrodynamics and static charge to connect them." Flynn started slowly, then warmed to his subject as Eve watched with a gratified smile.

After dinner was done and the dishes were in the sink, Eve reluctantly announced, "Alright, it's getting late, and it's a school night, so we should probably go."

There was a collection of protests, but Cassandra obediently collected her stuff and waved goodbye. As Eve headed for the door, a soft "Hey" from Ezekiel caught her attention.

Glancing around to check that no one saw him, he held out her phone. "Here. You dropped this."

She furrowed her brows in confusion as she took it back. "Thanks…"

"It has an unlimited plan on it now, for free. Forever. So you can get calls and texts and whatever." He told her in attempted nonchalance, hands in his pockets.

Overwhelmed with emotion at his gesture, and the trust behind it, but knowing she had to tread lightly, Eve settled for a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Thank you."

He nodded quickly, then shrugged and walked away with a muttered "Whatever."

Smiling, Eve opened the door.

"Baird!" Jake called out, then waited til she looked over. "Next time, dinner's on us."

"You got it." She answered back as Cassandra gave a thumbs up.

She and Cassandra made it out to the car before Flynn ran out, arms wheeling. "Eve! Eve!"

Cassie winked at her, then hopped into the passenger seat and closed the door.

Eve waited as Flynn caught up to her, panting breathlessly. "Eve, I just… um…"

Shaking her head because of course Flynn would rush out without even the beginnings of a plan, Eve crossed her arms and waited.

"I… um… I just wanted to say… I didn't mean… What you did back there…"

Forestalling the rest of his stammering, Eve leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek.

"Take care of yourself. And them." She motioned to the Library. "I think you gave them a pretty bad scare."

"Sorry." He murmured, still quieted by her kiss.

"Tell them that." She rebuked gently, then smiled at him. "Goodnight Librarian."

"Night."

She opened the car door, but before she could get in, Flynn called hesitantly, "Eve, you'll be there, right? At the… the…"

"At the service?" She finished for him, then nodded. "Of course."

The amount of relief in his eyes nearly broke her heart.

...

When Eve saw Flynn at the funeral, he looked… tired. Devoid of his usual energy, he looked years past his age, staring vacantly while Jake tried to adjust his tie and Ezekiel tugged at his shirt collar.

Cassandra and Eve exchanged concerned looks, then walked over to where they were standing. The moment Flynn saw her, Eve could almost see the weight lift off his shoulders. He was uncharacteristically quiet as Eve smoothed out Flynn's jacket while Cassandra straightened the boys' ties. Once the service started, Flynn fidgeted with a nervous energy, bouncing his knees and tapping his fingers until Eve gently laid her hand on top of his. His moments stilled, and then after a moment, Flynn shifted his grip until he was holding her hand.

After a beautiful eulogy by Charlene about Judson's life, the service ended with quiet conversations and small gifts of books left beside Judson's portrait. Eve watched Flynn fiddle with a small piece of paper folded into a triangle as he glanced over at Charlene.

"What's that?" She asked, coming up beside him.

"Oh, it's… I, um…" He flipped the paper over a few times before answering. "My uh… When I came in to interview for the Library, Charlene and… Judson asked me what was more important than learning."

Eve tilted her head. "What'd you say?"

"My… It was something my mother told me. That…" He trailed off, then handed the paper to her.

"The things that make life worth living can't be thought." Eve read softly.

"Can't be thought here." He echoed, reflexively touching two of his fingers to his temple.

Looking at Eve with a tender expression, Flynn took a slightly ragged breath, then continued, "They must be felt." He placed his hand over his heart. "Here."

Tracing a diamond shape in the air, Flynn said, "Judson liked kites, so I thought…" He shrugged and scuffed his toe in the dirt. "It's stupid."

Blinking away tears, Eve pressed the origami kite into his palm. "It's beautiful." She watched as he glanced over at Charlene again, then nudged him. "Go talk to her."

Flynn hesitantly made his way to Charlene. After a moment, he started, "You know, I never had a father…"

Charlene smiled at him with a mix of grief and pride. "And Judson never had a son." She sniffed, "There. Now we're both liars."

Bravado crumbling, Charlene pulled him into a long hug.

Eve looked on as Flynn showed her his kite-note, and as they placed it lovingly on the frame of Judson's painting. After another hug, Flynn went to collect Jake and Ezekiel, and Charlene walked over to Eve.

"I heard what you did for him." She told Eve out of the corner of her mouth as they both watched Flynn tried to break up an argument between the boys.

"Oh, I didn't-" Eve started, then was stopped by Charlene's hand on her arm.

"Thank you." Charlene looked back as Flynn held out his hand and pointed at Ezekiel. "He's… out of practice."

"Being around people?"

"Being a person." Charlene corrected in a tone that was both exasperated and accepting. "It's good for him to have someone like you in his life."

Eve wasn't quite sure how to respond to that, so she settled for, "Thank you."

With a brief smile, Charlene walked back to Judson's portrait as Eve rejoined Flynn and helped herd the kids toward the cars. Once they were all buckled in, Flynn pulled Eve aside under one of the shady trees.

"Hey, thanks for…" He whirled his hand around in an encompassing gesture.

"Of course. You going to be okay?" She asked, head tilted with concern.

Flynn nodded with a tight smile. "I think so."

"I'm really glad you talked to Charlene. I'm sure she appreciated it. And that kite was a really sweet way to remem-"

She was interrupted by Flynn pulling her into a kiss. It was warm and electrifying and asking for comfort all at once.

"Thank you." He whispered, leaning his forehead against hers.

"Uh…" Eve could almost hear her brain rebooting. "Yeah."

"And one of these days… soon… we should get lunch."

Eve blinked at him in surprise. "Oh. Yeah." She couldn't suppress the grin that was spreading across her face. "I'd like that."

"Me too." Flynn told her, then, overcome with sudden shyness, took off like a little boy who had just stolen a kiss.

And as she drove away, Eve couldn't help but think that maybe she was better with Flynn in her life, too.


End file.
